Surgery in patients with obstructive jaundice caused by a periampullary (pancreas, papilla, distal bile duct) tumour is associated with a higher risk of postoperative complications than in non-jaundiced patients. Preoperative biliary drainage was introduced in an attempt to improve the general condition and thus reduce postoperative morbidity and mortality. More recently, the focus has shifted towards the negative effects of drainage, such as an increase of infectious complications. This has raised doubts as to whether biliary drainage should always be performed in these patients. The project referred to above involves a randomised multicentre trial to compare the outcome of a 'preoperative biliary-drainage strategy' (standard strategy) with that of an 'early-surgery' strategy with respect to the incidence of severe complications (primary-outcome measure), hospital stay, number of invasive diagnostic tests, costs, and quality of life.